As Winner Pett Makes Welcome Return
Racing brothers Charlie and Dan Budd to make Legends Cars debuts
Fellow siblings Kieran and Mark Beaty also part of championship grid
Multiple Legends race winner Marcus Pett ready for welcome return
Silhouette star Chris Brockhurst and motorcycle racer Tom Brown join
Experienced racing siblings Charlie and Dan Budd will make their respective debuts in the hugely competitive Legends Cars National Championship with MRF Tyres this season, as the entry for the 2021 campaign already reaches 20 drivers.
Confirmed this morning, Monday, 8th February, the Budd brothers are the latest new faces to join Britain’s best big grid racing after a couple of seasons in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge.
Charlie, from Henley-on-Thames, and older brother Dan, from Ardley near Oxford, have both enjoyed past success in the Dunlop Mini Se7en Championship with Charlie winning the 2017 title.
More inter-family rivalry will be present for the new season in Legends Cars too, with drivers Kieran Beaty (Hexham) and Mark Beaty (Gosforth). The North East siblings, no strangers to the spectacular 5/8 scale motorcycle-engined pocket rockets, have mostly raced Legends north of the border.
Marcus Pett (Boston), one of the standout performers in the 2019 season with four race victories, makes a very welcome return to action in the championship after spending the COVID-19 affected 2020 on the sidelines. After debuting in Legends in 2017, following a title-winning career in karting, Pett was eighth overall in his first full campaign in 2018 where he won his first category races.
Another popular front-running competitor in Legends, Mike Schlup (Cuckfield), is also back on the grid and will be looking to build on a very strong 2020 season where he was a career-best ninth in the championship. Schlup, who debuted in 2016, was ‘Team Car’ Champion in his rookie season.
From the world of BARC Super Silhouette Championship action comes a new name to Legends Cars, Chris Brockhurst (Westgate). Racing in Outlaw Hot Rods previously, he was Vice-Champion in the 2015 Avon Intermarques and more latterly a race-winner and front-runner in Super Silhouettes.
Andy Bird, the 2019 Division 1 Superkart Champion, further boosts the contingent who have switched to Legends from long circuit Superkarts. After starting out in Junior TKM Karting, Bird stepped-up into cars in 2006 in the 750 Motor Club before debuting in Superkarts the following year.
Bridgeman Motorsport, which has already confirmed both team boss Nick Bridgeman and former Vice-Champion Steve Whitelegg for the new season, will field a third car for Tom Brown (Stevenage) who switches to four wheels from two.
With a move into Legends having been on the cards for a couple of years with Hertfordshire neighbour Bridgeman, Brown has now decided to hang-up his bike leathers – most recently riding a Yamaha R6 in No Limits Racing – and mount a major bid for the Legends Cars ‘Rookie’ title in 2021.
One of the most legendary names in Legends racing, Gerard McCosh (Biggar), is also entered for the 2021 season. It really isn’t a Legends race without seeing the immaculate maroon No.69 car of the category mainstay with, of course, mascot ‘Napoleon’ the pig onboard too!
“This season’s grid really is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in years”, said Legends Cars National Championship owner Phil Cooper, “We’re attracting racers from a very diverse spread of motorsport, which shows the strength of the package we offer in Legends and the superb quality of the racing. It continues to be one of the most cost-effective forms of racing anywhere.
“We’re delighted to welcome the Budd brothers to Legends and to also have Mark and Kieran Beaty back on the grid – all we need now is a set of twins! Chris Brockhurst and Tom Brown are both new to the championship, but from very different forms of motorsport in Super Silhouettes and No Limits bike racing, so it will be interesting to see how they get on.”
Cooper added: “Of course, Marcus Pett, Mike Schlup and Gerard McCosh need no introduction to fans of Legends Cars and it’s great to have all three confirmed for 2021. Andy Bird is another former Superkart racer joining our ranks and he will undoubtedly be competitive...just look what another Superkart racer, Daniel Clark, achieved last season!”
Subject to any changes linked to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 season is scheduled to get underway over the weekend 10th/11th April at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent.
Provisional Legends Cars National Championship with MRF Tyres Calendar
10/11 April – Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, Kent*
24/25 April – Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire
29/30 May – Knockhill Circuit, Fife
3/4 July – Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, Kent**
7/8 August – Croft Circuit, North Yorkshire
21/22 August – Donington Park National Circuit, Leicestershire*
18/19 September – Snetterton 300 Circuit, Norfolk*
9/10 October – Pembrey Circuit, Wales*
6/7 November – Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, Kent*
*events supporting the British Truck Racing Championship
**American Speedfest 8
